The Dark X-Men Fight Again

One of Norman Osborn's first orders of business after rising to power was to create his Dark Avengers – a team of villains disguising themselves as popular heroes. With his attention now turned to mutant affairs, Osborn has created a similar group of Dark X-Men. Cyclops and the X-Men are now fighting a war for survival on multiple fronts in the Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men crossover.

We don't yet know how the X-Men will be affected by the outcome of this crossover, other than than that the changes will be major. We now know one thing for sure, however. The Dark X-Men won't be going away once their initial fight is finished. That's because Marvel announced over the weekend that Captain Britain and the MI:13 creators Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk are developing a new Dark X-Men mini-series.

The duo are no strangers to the team, having already worked on several short stories in the Dark X-Men: The Beginning mini-series. We chatted briefly with Cornell via e-mail to find out some early details on the new project and just how much the team will have changed when we meet them again.

IGN Comics: Let's start with the most obvious question. The current Dark X-Men mini is a series of spotlights focusing on introducing Norman Osborn's new mutant team. What will this next project focus on?

Paul Cornell: This is about four of the team acting as Osborn's enforcers, and going out to do a particular job.

IGN Comics: Can we expect a similar format for this next project - solo character stories revolving around a similar theme?

Cornell: No, this is a miniseries that tells one story: a Journey to the Centre of the Goblin. Literally, but no, not like in Fantastic Voyage. That'd be a bit of a let down, really. I mean, it's just lymphocytes and other normal human stuff in there.

IGN Comics: We're told Nate Grey, better known as X-Man, is set to return in Dark X-Men. How does Nate factor into this mini-series, and is he the same character fans knew from the '90s? Is Nate joining the Dark X-Men?

Cornell: He's the same guy, back from the human unconscious. He's the main antagonist of our 'heroes', someone of vast power and vast ethical perspective, a real threat to everything Osborn wants to do with mutants.

IGN Comics: The presence of Nate Grey makes us wonder if we'll be seeing any significant roster changes with the start of this new series?

Cornell: The roster's partly being kept under wraps for now... but you can check out the art for some idea.

IGN Comics: How much does this series build from the Utopia crossover? How much does it build from and link to the upcoming Nation X storyline with Magneto? Will we see the Dark X-Men interacting with other teams in this book or in other books?

Cornell: It builds from where we are after Utopia. The only other team the Dark X-Men will be interacting with in this are... SHIELD. But not as you've known it.

IGN Comics: How would you describe the team dynamic of the Dark X-Men? Some seem more eager to be around than others. Would this team be comparable to the back-stabbing and manipulation we see in the Dark Avengers?

Cornell: Our four actually hang together pretty well, once they've got to know each other. Apart from the fact that they've allowed themselves to ignore the fact that one of their number is a terrifying serial killer. They all have their individual aims, but those synchronise in the face of the enormous task Osborn sets them, and their own fears about the world post-Osborn.

IGN Comics: How closely will this series be tied with external Dark Reign events? Norman Osborn's larger storyline seems to be winding down at the end of this year. will this be a series that reflects any changes along the way?

Cornell: We're still in the midst of what Osborn sees as a stable time, where he can make grandiose plans for mutantkind. The poor, deluded fool.

IGN Comics: We're guessing Utopia is going to prevent you from saying too much more. but is there anything else you'd like to add about the Dark X-Men mini-series at this time?

Cornell: It's darkly, twistedly funny, and then it moves that to a different angle, and it stops being so funny, and you realise how sick what just happened is. That's what I'm aiming for. And hopefully by the end of it you'll have seen a lot of what makes Osborn tick, and a lot of how those who work for him are sometimes very different to him.